


Love could be (Week 3 of 52 more stories)

by readergirl37



Series: 52 More Stories [2]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:27:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27040468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readergirl37/pseuds/readergirl37
Summary: AU where soulmates share their lifespan, Elijah gets daggered, and Bonnie and Caroline think of what to do for Elena.
Relationships: Elena Gilbert/Elijah Mikaelson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: 52 More Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1943929
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	Love could be (Week 3 of 52 more stories)

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this chapter is:  
> Love could be beautiful or monstrous. But, she hadn’t yet figured out which this would be.  
> These prompts are by sdavid09 . tumblr com and I'm writing these with her permission to use the prompts.

Elena drops her overnight bag in the living room, grinning at Bonnie before her face falls.

Her skin grays and Bonnie catches her. There is a heartbeat, Elena is alive but something's happened to her soulmate, who must be a vampire, Bonnie realizes.

Maybe Klaus decided to figure out who it was to incapacitate him and to get to Elena.

Either way, she knows she needs to do her duty to save her friend and keep the balance of nature. It could be coincidental, but she's stopped believing in that word since the Originals came to town. Nothing is a coincidence anymore.

"Klaus is coming after Elena and I need you to help me hide her body," Bonnie says. Caroline gasps.

"Is she dead?" Caroline demands to know.

"No. Get to my house now, I'll explain in person," Bonnie says. The call ends and she hears Caroline gasp again, this time in person.

"Grab her body, I need my grimoire and we need to go into the woods, now, before he figures out she's here," Bonnie rushes, stuffing ingredients into her bag. Caroline lifts Elena over her shoulder, biting her lip.

"Where are we going?" Caroline asks.

"Near the witch burial ground, the house where they burned a hundred witches," Bonnie says. Caroline nods and reaches for her.

After her feet are back on solid ground, Bonnie takes a deep breath.

"I need your help, please," Bonnie murmurs. She can feel the spirits here, their collective presence has always felt overwhelming but comforting at the same time.

"Elena Gilbert is the Petrova doppelganger. Her soulmate is a vampire who is incapacitated, causing her to be stuck in limbo.

Klaus will look for her to use her blood to make hybrids. I need your help to keep the balance and hide my friend," Bonnie beseeches. The wind swirls around them, violently blowing their hair and Elena out of Caroline's arms.

A staircase appears, deep in the ground in front of them, and descending deep into the Earth. Elena floats down, and her friends follow her body quickly.

"They're telling me that this used to be a building, they hid it underground before they were hunted down," Bonnie says.

Caroline turns on her phone's flashlight, as they follow Elena's body down into stone hallways that remind her of the catacombs.

No one's been down here in a century, at least, and it smells like cold earth and stone.

They follow Elena into a room where she's placed gently on a stone slab and Bonnie thanks the spirits. There's barely any sign anyone was ever here, no past signs of life besides what looks like decaying wooden chairs and a few glass bottles. This doesn't look like a place that's ever had much joy.

"So we have to find her soulmate for her to wake up? Will she die if that takes a week or longer? She's human," Caroline wonders.

"Their life forces are tied, Elena is essentially immortal with whoever it is, she could be down here for years, but it's a vampire she's met, so we can work through this," Bonnie answers. Caroline shivers, and it has nothing to do with the autumn chill settling in. Even if Klaus finds the house, he won't find Elena.

"She'll be watched over down here until it's safe. Klaus might be demented, but he can't fight a hundred witches," Bonnie says.

A sharp pain hits her chest at the thought of leaving Elena alone, in the dark, for so long.

There's not a better option right now though, and she's sharply aware of Elena's cellphone in her living room, her overnight bag still untouched, and the fact they'll have to tell Jeremy. There's damage control to do before anyone is aware of the damage, the opposite of how things tend to go.

"Come on, time to go back to town and play dumb if Klaus asks where she is. I can't be compelled and you're taking vervain, we're safe for now," Bonnie says. Caroline blinks away a few stray tears and nods.

The entrance and the door disappear back into the ground as they walk away. Bonnie thanks the witches and lets Caroline flash them away.

* * *

It's not easy work, tracking an unpredictable hybrid. There's no easy way to narrow their list.

It doesn't help that the rest of the Originals disappeared, Bonnie wonders if Elena's soulmate has been shipped off with the rest of his siblings, boxed and daggered once more. Klaus is once again the only Original in town. They could have scattered and gone their separate ways, but that seems out of character for them, especially Elijah.

The first angry knock at her door takes place the next morning. Bonnie is thankful it's not Klaus, at least not yet.

"Where's Elena?" Damon demands. Bonnie gives him a confused look.

"She didn't show up to our sleepover we had planned last night, I have no idea," she lies. Stefan and Damon don't need to know Elena's soulmate could be of the Originals they were set on killing, Stefan hates Klaus so much he might just let Elena die for revenge. He already almost drove them both off Wickery Bridge

"I can't keep her safe if I don't know where she is and her phone is off or dead," Damon complains. Bonnie shrugs.

"I haven't seen her. If you do, tell her to call me," Bonnie says before she shuts her front door.

* * *

As far as Klaus knows Elena is dead. No one's reported seeing a Petrova doppelganger anywhere he has connections.

It's been a month and he looked up the Gilbert Family tree, Jeremy can't carry on the Petrova line.

It ended with Elena and he will never have his hybrids. She could be dead somewhere, buried under another name or her own, Elena's loved ones intentionally keeping her rotting blood and DNA from him.

He watches Caroline and Bonnie across the bar at the Grille, both on their phones instead of talking or touching their food. He's not in the mood to watch Caroline pretend there isn't something between them that makes her heart race or to deal with a witch who will refuse to help him.

Maybe this doppelganger did it all on her own, her loved ones seemed initially shocked by her absence. The only person among them he could think would attempt killing her is Stefan. He almost drove her off the bridge just to make a point. Stefan is not her soulmate.

Bonnie wonders what would have happened if Elena had gone with the plan to dagger Elijah at the lakehouse before everything went sideways. It was always going to go sideways, but that could have confirmed their current theory at least.

It doesn't make sense that it could be Stefan, Damon is still fine, Finn had Sage, that leaves Kol and Elijah. The fact Elena managed to dagger Rebekah with no consequences rules her out as well, though they didn't consider her for very long.

"I wonder where the hell Elijah is," Caroline mutters, barely loud enough for Bonnie to hear it next to her. Klaus walks from the bar to the booth they're sitting in.

"I couldn't help but overhearing you mention my brother's name," Klaus says. Bonnie rolls her eyes. People have died by his hand for much less, but in the interest of his fascination with Caroline, he ignores it. He wonders if she knows he's her soulmate. He could feel her descent when she was close to death before he gave her his blood.

"Well, obviously something happened to Elena. And they had that deal going on, and he's never bothered coming back. Some man of his word he is," Bonnie shakes her head. They see Klaus's eyes flash at the insult to Elijah.

"My brother is a man of his word. However, he is indisposed at the moment," Klaus informs them.

"So you got mad at your siblings and daggered and boxed them back up," Caroline guesses correctly. Klaus flashes her a sharp smile. She knows that look, it means she's on the money, and he's not happy about it.

"Perhaps," Klaus answers. Caroline will eventually realize who he is to her, but he has time for her to come around to the idea. They'll live forever.

"Have you found anything? Any sign of what happened to her?" Caroline asks, eyes soft. Klaus raises an eyebrow at the question.

"She's our best friend. Elena's absence doesn't just affect you and your plans to build an army," Bonnie reminds him. Caroline is looking at him with a hopeful look he hates to crush.

"I haven't found anything pointing to her current state or location. I've asked multiple witches to find her, remains or not, and they've only gotten bloody noses. No results and I doubt you want to help me, Bonnie," Klaus comments. He places his hand on their table to lean forward slightly.

"You're right, I don't," Bonnie retorts. Caroline's eyes focus on a streak of blue disappearing into Klaus's sleeve.

"Do you have paint on your arm?" Caroline asks, meeting his eyes. Klaus glances at his wrist.

"I've been painting a city on fire today," he divulges.

"I'd love to see that some time," Caroline tells him without thinking. Klaus smirks.

"I'll let you know when it's ready for viewing," Klaus promises. He wishes them a good night and walks out, Caroline's eyes following him. Bonnie raises an eyebrow in question and Caroline shakes her head. The Grille is not the place to discuss her new plan.

* * *

The call comes as she expects, Klaus calls, of course, he does but she's not entirely ready to admit she knows he's her soulmate. He was pale and unsteady when he offered his blood to her, months ago, but she kept that to herself. She parks and he's already welcoming her inside, cautiously optimistic.

It's hard to separate who Klaus is when it's just them and the legendary hybrid. Here, in his gallery, she lets her arm brush against his as she points to a brushstroke and asks how he made the plumes of smoke.

He's in the middle of an explanation as his phone rings. Caroline catches a glimpse of the name on the screen and gives him a confused look.

"This better be good, Damon," Klaus begins. Caroline can hear Damon recite what he needs to on the other end.

"I think I found Elena, she's alive. I want to make a deal for this information, face to face. At the Boarding House, in five minutes," Damon proposes. Klaus catches Caroline's concerned eyes. She doesn't seem to know what the hell Damon does, so he agrees.

"Stay here. I might have a lead on Elena, but I'll be back soon," Klaus tells her, stepping away to leave. Caroline grabs his sleeve.

"Be safe," she murmurs. He could remind her that he's impossible to kill, but he nods before he goes. He doesn't.

As soon as he is, she flashes over the house before she finds the coffins. Rebekah's gray, stuck in a blue dress Caroline's never seen, she shuts it. The second coffin's the charm, and she texts Bonnie as she pulls the dagger out.

_Elena's coming back. Who was it?_

_Elijah. I'm dropping his body off to you and coming back. He'll expect me to still be here._

* * *

She finds herself waking up on an unfamiliar floor, moving to sit up. Bonnie was supposed to have her over, but this isn't Bonnie's house. Elijah is a few feet away, looking up at her in surprise.

"Did you undagger me?" he wonders. She blinks in surprise as he sits across from her. They both hear footsteps, but he doesn't move so they must be fine.

"I didn't even know you were daggered," she answers.

"That's because you were basically in a coma when he was," Bonnie answers, appearing in the doorway.

"The house of 100 witches," Elijah guesses. Bonnie nods.

"They're protecting you both while we figure out a plan. You're soulmates," Bonnie tells them. Elena glances at Elijah, curious.

Love could be beautiful or monstrous. But, she hasn't yet figured out which this would be.

It's been just a moment and there's so much to worry about, his siblings, her future as a human, and how her loved ones will take this.


End file.
